Enigmo: A Shower of Entropy

Written on August 01, 2008 by Avand Amiri. Takes about a minute to read.

Since I got my iPhone 3G, I’ve downloaded, that is paid, for exactly 3 games. The best - by a long shot - is Enigmo, from Pangea Software. For those of you who don’t know it, it’s basically a puzzle game where you have a certain set of tools on each level that you need to use to somehow route a bunch of droplets of liquid from point A to point B. Sounds lame, right? Maybe this will clear things up:

Enigmo Screenshot

Not so lame anymore, huh? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Anyway, this game, besides just blatantly robbing my time, has actually spoken to me on a deeper level (think wading pool). For those of you who may know me, I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I find myself constantly balancing my idealism against productivity and efficiency. Enigmo helps me practice this. You’re trying to get all of these little droplets over to one place, but soon realize that things are just a bit more chaotic than you accounted for. In almost all the levels, much to my dismay, you just can’t get every droplet into the pot. It’s all about getting “good enough.”

And that’s OK! Because there’s a countdown racing to zero, and the goal isn’t to get all the droplets into the pots, but rather to get as many points as possible by finishing quickly. And even then, you only need to fill fast enough for them not to evaporate. The best way to get big points: just do it. It doesn’t have to be beautiful or ideal; there’s no “grand scheme” to the game, and there’s definitely more than one solution

So if you, like me, suffer from “entrophobia”, pick up this game asap and start embracing the insanity.

Thanks for reading! I'm Avand.

I’ve been working on the web for over a decade and am passionate about building great products.

I devote most of my time to building Lopery, a free budgeting that helps people spend with confidence, recover from the unexpected, and achieve financial independence. I used simple (but time consuming) budgeting principles to buy my first home. Now, I'm codifying (pun intended) those same principles into an easy to use app that helps people achieve their financial goals.

My last job was with Airbnb, where I focused on internal products that helped teams measure the quality of the software they were building. I also built internal tools for employees to stay more connected, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Before that, I was lead engineer at Mystery Science, the #1 way in which science is now taught in U.S. elementary school classroms. For a while, I also taught with General Assembly, teaching aspiring developers the basics of front-end web development.

I was born in Boston, grew up in Salt Lake City, and spent many years living in Chicago. In 2013, I came out West to San Francisco, which I called home for almost a decade. Now, I’m based out Mariposa, in the foothills of the Sierras.

I enjoy the great outdoors and absolutely love music and dance. Cars have been an lifelong obsession of mine. I’m the proud owner of a 2002 E-250 Sportsmobile van, and he and I have enjoyed many trips to beautiful and remote parts of the Pacific North West spreading good vibes. I also have a very soft spot for magic (slight of hand, in particular). I love the feeling of being inspired and absolutely love inspiring others.

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